-When one goes to the holy temple for the first time, he or she may be somewhat awestruck by that experience. Our job is to ensure that the sacred symbols and revealed rituals, the ceremonial clothing and visual presentations, never distract from but rather point toward the Savior, whom we are there to worship. The temple is His house, and He should be uppermost in our minds and hearts﻿—the majestic doctrine of Christ pervading our very being just as it pervades the temple ordinances﻿ —from the time we read the inscription over the front door to the very last moment we spend in the building. Amid all the wonder we encounter, we are to see, above all else, the meaning of Jesus in the temple.

Like so many others, I wondered what the heck was going on. It was NOTHING like any church ordinance or ritual. With all the hype about spiritual nirvana, I thought something marvelous was going to occur. Instead I heard a lot of pig Latin at the veil. And their stupid film was an insult to intelligence; it made no sense at all.

>> "When one goes to the holy temple for the first time, he or she may be somewhat awestruck by that experience. Our job is to ensure that the sacred symbols and revealed rituals, the ceremonial clothing and visual presentations, never distract from but rather point toward the Savior....."

I had just returned to activity in mormonism at 22 yrs old after being a worldly and fully inactive rebel since I was 13...the rebel started at about 6 yrs old though. They quickly pulled me into the mission experience and within a few months of activity, I was going through the LA temple for the first time on my way to the West Indies Mission (83-85).

Awestruck? WTF? I was shocked! In a disturbing kind of way too. Thinking of the savior? WTF? I was thinking "am I really going to be expected to kill myself if I show someone the secret handshakes and passwords? What kind of freaky cult part of mormonism is this?!?!" And I went along with it. I felt the same getting sealed a few years later.

I the only thing I learned in the temple was that I didn't enjoy it and would be awestruckingly embarrassed if any one out side of the temple death cult knew I was doing that.

The naked touching thing was my first red flag. Then the ridiculous costume including hat with a string. Then having to memorize lines and handshakes, WTF! Wouldn't an all-knowing god already know who I am? Then the chanting began. I remember thinking OMG, this is what cults do. I don't remember ever feeling like I was worshiping a Savior. Mostly it was just a pain in the ass. I went back several times and didn't enjoy any of them, It was easier to live with the guilt than suffer through the "temple experience", so I mostly tried to avoid it.

It made me think of the Savior immediately with the secret hand clasps: John 18:20: “ Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.”

It was and will always be one of the biggest disappointments of my life.

I definitely was not thinking of Christ. Never thought of Christ while I was in the temple. I was too worried about the old bitches telling me I was doing things wrong.

Like someone above said, I got to a point that I'd rather feel guilty (which my husband wanted me to feel) than go through THAT!

My daughter makes her husband take her to the temple every week. My boyfriend and I go to the movies, too, every week. We saw "Downton Abby" this past weekend. Any movie is better than the temple movie.

I was disappointed when I went for the first time,Having listened to some members go on about other churches which had statues,symbols,altars and much more I came away thinking how hypocritical LDS can be about other churches,not just the "we are the only true church on the face of the earth"but bringing them down when they have some really ridiculous signs.symbols and tell new temple goers that there will be symbols etc

I was told to "remember everything" because I was going to have to repeat it back to someone. My mind was spinning trying to remember all the gibberish that I forgot almost everything. Thank goodness the person at the veil helps you say/repeat the words to get you out!

I invited some friends to go through the first time with me. One guy was a former boyfriend who graduated from Harvard. He looked so ridiculous in his temple outfit I had to tell myself that there must be something to it if a boring, Harvard MBA could stand there looking like an idiot and not laugh.

The WONDER we encounter in the temple? Sure, I was expecting something marvelous--but it turned out to be 3 hours of a shitty movie, trying to suppress an erection from watching whoever the hottie was who played Adam prance around naked with Satan, a cultist prayer circle, and then repeating some mumbo-jumbo to a flustered old man at a curtain. The part that really did me in, though, was finding out that in order to get into Mormon heaven you have to know the f**king password.

The PASSWORD. To get into HEAVEN.

The whole time I WONDERED how this event to which I had looked forward my entire life could turn out to be such a letdown, a make-believe play session complete with baker's hats and aprons. All the adults in my life went on and on about how sacred this was supposed to be, and how spiritually and intellectually fulfilling. But I came out of it with only the new knowledge that all these people I had admired were, in fact, idiots.

I felt so uncomfortable going there. I felt extreme anxiety and I doubted that I could reach out to other members for help and support. Here I was a believing member that loathed going to the temple. Had I spoken up in EQ, I would have been mocked; possibly attacked for trifling with sacred matters. I was the ward clerk and had I brought it up during the Sunday morning bishopric meeting, I would have accused of hiding some unresolved sin.

My second eldest brother told me the entire ceremony before I went through because it freaked him so much and he was worried I would run out. He's been a stake president, so he's quite TBM, but as TBM as he is, he goes to the temple the bare minimum to remain under the radar. When he goes to the temple, if anyone looks as though he or she even might be thinking about being sick, my brother insists on treating the person instead of finishing the session.

Granted, I haven't been through since the slit-your-throat, Pay-lay-ale days, but the last thing I felt like was that I was worshipping God or Christ or even thinking about Christ. What role does Christ have in the ceremony? But good ol Satan (he was a hunk in the 70s) and Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson played major roles. I was certainly NOT awestruck, more like dumbstruck.

I liked Jeff Holland as a university president. I met him when I was a BYU student and he really did care about the students and he didn't rule with an iron fist either. Jeff seemed like he liked his job. He was happy in those days.

As an apostle Jeff seems unhappy. He seems like he about ready to have a breakdown or lose his temper. He's not the same guy that was running BYU 35 years ago.

I could not believe that after hearing repeatedly how sacred, special and marvelous the temple experience was that I had really been corralled, cornered and coerced into buying into this ridiculously juvenile demeaning roadshow performance which insulted my intelligence and belief in right and wrong.

Given no warning I would be told, not asked mind you, that I was to give everything I had, plus my life, to the church if and when they wanted it did not sit well in the least, nor was it sacred, special or marvelous!

Lies and more lies is what I had been exposed to - Lies that would lead me right out of this CULT.

Lately I've started asking Mormon missionaries I know what they thought of the Endowment ceremony when they went through the Temple before going on their missions. Several said that they were, as they put it, "weirded out" by the experience. One said that his returned missionary older brother told him before he went through the Temple: "Remember, no matter how you feel about what you are going to experience in the Temple, the Church is still true!"